Fan festival scheduled for Jan. 26

Space cleared on 40-man roster with outrighting of four players; two re-signed

The Orioles’ annual offseason FanFest will be held Saturday, Jan. 26 at the Baltimore Convention Center, the team announced.

While few details other than the date came out Thursday, FanFest is typically a driver in ticket sales and features fanoriented events such as autographs, question-and-answer sessions with players and coaches, baseball activities and memorabilia.

FanFest is annually a marker for where the Orioles are in their offseason, with past editions coinciding with some of their bigger offseason moves, such as the re-signing of Mark Trumbo before the 2017 season.

However, this year’s event will likely be more about a first chance for fans to interact with the new people chosen to lead the Orioles’ baseball operations and hear their thoughts in the traditional season-ticket holder Q&A that kicks off the event.

More details will be announced as they become available at Orioles.com/FanFest, the team said. O’s outright four, re-sign two: Four players were removed from the Orioles’ 40-man roster on Thursday, with infielder Jace Peterson and left-hander Sean Gilmartin electing free agency after clearing outright waivers and right-hander Gabriel Ynoa and infielder Corban Joseph signing minor league contracts to return to the organization for 2019.

The moves were made to clear roster space for four players the Orioles needed to add off the 60-day disabled list by Friday, including outfielder Mark Trumbo, lefthander Richard Bleier, right-hander Pedro Araujo and outfielder Austin Hays.

Ynoa was also on the 60-day DL and didn’t pitch in the majors in 2018 as he dealt with shoulder soreness and shin splints, but was activated off the DL before he was outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk. Ynoa, 25, made nine appearances (four starts) for the Orioles in 2017, and owns a 3.57 ERA in his minor league career.

Joseph, the brother of Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph, was an Eastern League All-Star this year after batting .312 with 49 extra-base hits for Double-A Bowie and had four hits in 18 at-bats over two stints in the majors.

Peterson was claimed off waivers from the NewYorkYankees to cover for injuries to Jonathan Schoop and Tim Beckham on April 24 and hit .195 in 93 games with the Orioles while playing all over the diamond. A veteran of parts of five major league seasons, Peterson, 28, will go back to the open market in the offseason.

Gilmartin will join him in free agency, having made 12 appearances for the Orioles with a 3.00 ERA. He began the year in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, and signed a minor league deal with the Orioles onJuly13.

MASNSports.com first reported Peterson being placed on waivers.